This subject came up when someone replied to my intro thread stating that most "restorers wouldn't even look at the stuff that the true rodders builld their cars from". I agree wholheartedly. There is definately a lot of truth to that statement. I think a lot of stuff has been passed up and even carted to the dump by restorers and/or "fancy" street rodders, that would have been plenty suitable for a vintage style hot rod or race car body. It should be a priorty for groups such as these to try to get the word out, that NOTHING should be junked! To me it is inexcusable to throw away anything that they haven't made anymore of in 70 or so years. If it can't be restored, it can probably be hot rodded. If it's too far gone for hot rodding, there's probably a vintage race guy somewhere who would love to have it for a race car body. You'd be surprised what you can get away with, with a little ingenuity. Lets see some of the "hopeless causes" that you guys have...or plan to ressurect as a rod or race car. More importantly, lets all do our best to spread the word among rodders and restorers alike, that NOTHING SHOULD BE JUNKED. It's always been true..."one man's junk is another man's jewel" !!! Her's mine, 1933 Chevrolet 3 window coupe rescued from 30 years of neglect after being converted for stock car racing, wrecked, stripped of useable parts and discarded in the woods:
Word. I stumbled across a "sign" yesterday some guy had made out of an early 40's Chevrolet coupe - still tracking down the actual model number and a way to contact the guy (I think he puss' out during winter to hang out down in Florida) but it looks like to have been a military car at some point (Big white star on doors and various faded numbers, etc.) - It's rusted to hell and is supported from below by a bunch of old rims, but damned if I don't see the potential.
Here is a link to a site with literally hundreds of photos of unrestored race car relics. Click on "junk yards" in the left margin: http://www.junkracer.virtualave.net/ Be prepared to spend hours looking at photos like these ones:
My 34 ford sedan is made up of parts no one wanted. They would not be useful as a parts car to most people. This is going to be a good thread.. The junk racer site belongs to a friend of mine named Perry he has a great collection of old racers and photos. Bobby.. .
Here are some links to a Merc I just bought http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o302/rebstew187/HPIM0865.jpg http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o302/rebstew187/HPIM0864.jpg http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o302/rebstew187/HPIM0867.jpg Its too far gone. A real shame.
Good post. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Looks like a good start Frank. Impressive. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There's been some pretty sad classics brought back from the edge, but almost always done by a resto shop. Not knocking the resto guys here, but it seems that for many a resto is their first venture into the world of the old automobile and it's the hunt rather than the learning a new skill that drives them. I'm enjoying seeing folks - especially the young hot rodders -getting right into the middle of some serious body work issues and coming out on top. I agree, hot rodders take on projects a resto guy wouldn't touch. I think too, hot rodders must be some pretty good poker players. I've watched a few highly experienced guys play dumb when confronted by a piece they've been searching for a long while. No expanations needed here....
Cool Merc. Looks like Freddie Flintstone would have no problem driving it though! Here's another one of mine, 1937 Chevy Coupe was gutted for use as a race car body around 1975. By 1980, it had been replaced by Gremlin tin and the body laid outside until I bought it in 2000. And here it restored, as we race it with Vintage racing clubs:
Thanks for ruining my night...I have over an hour invested already.There are some very cool links there.
i agree 100% heres a few of my 31 DeSoto, had about 80 bullet holes and a few shotgun blastsnot to mention the bottom 6-8inches were almost gone. although my car started out pretty rough it is nothing compared to what some of the guys on here have started with, hot rodders truely are the best recyclers.
RE: Tetanus Shot. I rest my case. Well done. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As a small aside, I'm not a fan of radical chops, but this car has a fairly serious chop that blends right into the flow of the rear trunk area and looks good. Trick will be to get the stance/rubber just right. True artists can work in any medium....
Awesome car... great lines... and great work on the restoration. The thing looks like it's sideways just sittin' there. I'd bet my $1 on it.... JOE
Dude- That Merc is definately a worthy candidate- Please check out my '57http://s14.photobucket.com/albums/a340/1261/?action=view¤t=2.jpg&slideshow=true&interval=3 before you decide it's a tosser...
Some of you are probably familiar with the name Dave Simard. He builds some of the finest hot rods around. I believe it was he who said, "to build a hot rod correctly you must first restore it." Think about that for a while and the wisdom will reach out and grab you. Frank
thank you, i am still trying to figure out what im going to do about stance, it will probably be channeled with alot of inspiration coming from the early lakes style cars, i have also been plaing with the idea of putting it on a set of deuce rails, once i start mocking it up i will have a better idea. still have a long way to go. heres a 3/4 shot of the rear
If you don't have frame yet.....you might want to consider what we are doing with the 33 Chevy #7. We're utilizing a 1953 Chevy frame (most frames from 37 to 54 are very similar). It is wide enough that we're placing the floor boards at the bottom of the frame rails to allow more leg room. With that heavy chop and going to be chanelled, the 4" you'll gain could be critical. Here's a picture of the frame:, note how the rails curve like the bodies do: Here's our body mocked up on the frame: Here's the floor pan:
Here is a link to my 31 coupe's webpage: The frame was missing and the body redefined the word "rough", but It got me into hotrods... http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2320076
Perfect example....many people would have hauled that to junkyard or dump without a second thought. Here you are building something to be admired out of it. Old school recycling 101 !
Here's a link to another junkyard site: http://www.classiccarsrotting.com/ Litterally thousands of pictures here, some 30's, lots of 40's 50's 60's
Here are some of the ones I have had. The body on the white 34chevy coupe came of an old dirt car last raced in 69. The body on the white-blue and orange 34 chevy was in the tornado that hit Omaha in the late 70s. It was beat up bad and bought for $20.00. The body on the orange 36 chevy was found baried in about 10" of dirt and had been rolled and beat to hell. It was bought for $100.00. None of these cars would have probly ever seen the street again but got a second chance to bring back alot of memeries on the dirt tracks
Here is a 37 ford 2dr built from three diffrent ditch cars. None of them probly should not have been built. Two of them had been rolled one hit hard in the right side all to fare gone to think about putting back on the street. But as you can see the dirt tracker kind of came out in this one two. Are any of them to fare gone? For some people maybe, but I dont think so.
The scratchng of the forehead in the first photo says it all. "What have I gotten myself into?" But, the gears are turning and you ended up with a cool build, thanks for sharing.
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